Now celebrating its 35th year, the Bristol Hi-Fi Show 2024 looks set to be better than ever. Starting on Friday 23rd of February and running until Sunday 25th February, the show returns to the now-revised and refreshed Delta Hotels by Marriott Bristol City Centre, in Lower Castle Street, Bristol, BS1 3AD.
Set across seven floors, the show brings together the best in hi-fi and home cinema systems from the UK and beyond. Big names in UK audio such as Arcam, Linn, Naim, and PMC rub shoulders with the finest international brands, including Dynaudio, GoldenEar, and Innuos.
We will be at the show with our regular stand (Conservatory 8), bringing you the latest issue, exclusive subscription offers, and back issues… so you never miss a hi-fi+ review!
Things to look out for…
The Bristol Hi-Fi Show has become a launchpad for many new products from the UK audio scene. Here are some of the highlights we know are coming, that you can see for the first time in Bristol:
Chord Electronics Ultima Integrated: The new £8,500 125 watt integrated amplifier from Chord Electronics uses the Ultima circuitry seen in its latest power amplifiers, but in a single-box. It might just be all the amp you need…
Exposure 360: Exposure is best known for its amplifiers and digital source components, but now it looks set to make a striking new £1,300 turntable with power supply made in collaboration with a ‘leading British turntable manufacturer’. Find out more this weekend.
FyneAudio: Something new is coming from Fyne Audio. We know what it is but if we tell anyone, they’ll drown us in whisky. That might take some time, so you might as well nip over to their exhibit at the Bristol Hi-Fi Show and find out more…
Innuos PULSAR, innuOs 2.6: Innuos will be showing its PULSAR network music player for the first time in the UK and the company has just updated its innuOs software for its players and servers. Find out more at the company’s immersive AB demonstrations at the show.
Leema Quantum: The new Neutron DAC/Preamp and Graviton power amplifier will be launched at the show. The duo offer 13 inputs including a MM/MC stage, a 150W Class A amplifier, and weigh in at just £1,500 each, or £2,800 for the pair. Find out more this weekend.
Linn Klimax Solo 800: The latest flagship mono power amplifier from the Scottish audio legend looks set to take the high-end by storm. The powerful, cool running amplifier bristles with technology and comes from a brand that knows how to make a good sound. We expect a lot from this £37,500 powerhouse!
Pearl Acoustics 170: The British audio company best known for its loudspeakers has been working on something special behind the scenes: the new 170 power amplifier. We’ve been lucky to get one for the first review coming soon on the pages of hi-fi+ but you get to hear it first this weekend!
Plus much, much more…
The show is more than just a place to see and hear the best. Audio T, the store behind the show, offer spectacular deals on the day. You hear it, you buy it… and buy it for a great price!
The audio reviewer as an explorer? No one is going to believe that. Granted, sitting at home listening to music all day doesn’t make you the Neil Armstrong of hi-fi, but bear with me. A part of the modern audio reviewer’s role is to explore new products and put the best of them in front of the buying public. Such is the case with the excellent Zeiler Audio PR-01 preamplifier and its new matching PA-01 power amplifier.
The days of reviewers as ‘kingmakers’ are – hopefully – behind us all, but there is an understandable conservatism about new product purchases. Because of the price tags involved, buyers gravitate toward established names, thinking the brand is more likely to be around and more commonly known should repairs be needed and that it will have good residuals on the second-hand market. However, this often results in an overly conservative market, where just a handful of big-name brands sell to the same buyers time after time. The problem with this is two-fold; the big-name brand is tied to the requirements of an increasingly ageing community of buyers, and newcomers (either as manufacturers or new buyers) are left out of the equation.
When one amp became two
The Swiss-made Zeiler Audio is a perfect example of how we must collectively think beyond those big, well-established names. The company began with just one product – the PR-01 preamplifier – but quickly added a matching PA-01 power amplifier. Ralf Zeiler designed both products to disappear from the audio chain functionally, leaving just music behind. It’s a goal expressed by many but achieved by few… but I think Zeiler might have nailed it.
Zeiler’s first product, the PR-01, is a four-input valve preamplifier with four ECC83 valves accessed through two heavy top panels. The three line-level and one MM phono input are all RCA connections. Two of the line-level inputs have Lundahl input transformers, while the third one is 6dB more sensitive than the others. This fourth input helps accommodate older audio electronics (which might have an output voltage of around 1V), where more modern designs like streamers (that can have outputs in the 2.5V range or higher).
The preamp output has a source/tape output for tape monitoring or to connect external headphone amplifiers. There are also ‘direct’ and unbalanced RCA and XLRs with a balanced or unbalanced operation. Direct, as the name suggests, is the high-purity link for those who can keep a short distance between the preamp and power amp. At the same time, the two last connections include an additional output stage for driving super-low impedance power amps or long interconnect cables. The balanced outputs are fed through Lundahl output transformers, with different taps for each option.
Similar style
The newer PA-1 is styled similarly but with fewer controls than the three-knob PR-01. The two 12AX7/ECC83 input valves and the pair of KT150 power valves used to develop the amp’s 10-watt output are cleverly hidden in the side cheeks of the amp itself, allowing for easy, tool-free access and replacement. The amp can take its power on and off instructions from the preamp. Biasing and adjustment aren’t issues with just one power valve per side. The amp is choke regulated and is filled with paper-in-oil capacitors and custom-made Lundahl C-core transformers.
Ralf Zeiler is a hand-wired, point-to-point designer of the old school, and it shows throughout!
Let’s talk about build quality. Swiss-made usually means expensive and well-made, but even by those standards, Zeiler stands apart. Both are built to an impeccable standard, CNC machined out of solid billets of aluminium and then glass-bead-blasted and treated to an ceramic form of anodising… all combine to give this velvety-feeling “none, none more black” amplifier duo the kind of solidity of build and finish that few can match.
Girthy
The only way it could get any more ‘girthy’ would be if it were built out of bits of Swiss Alp, and to damage that finish would require a chisel, which would be a crime against quality construction!
The internal construction and parts list is equally impressively solid. Nothing’s left to chance here, and as a result, this feels like a pair of ‘deep time’ products. They are the kind of products you might put in a time capsule to play music of today to future generations. Although why future generations would want to listen to ‘I Am Free’ by Tones And I or ‘Cowboys And Angels’ by Jessie Murph escapes me.
Ralf Zeiler is a big fan of classic Tannoy studio monitors, which goes some way to understanding the genesis of the PA-01. When you are used to the effortless efficiency and scale of big Tannoy designs (or similar), powerful amplifiers become less of a requirement and more of a millstone around the neck of the loudspeakers. You become aware that, in many cases, the higher the power, the less ‘dynamic’ the dynamic range.
Quality and quantity
Once you begin to parse this design process, your respect for the Zeiler amps goes through the roof. These are simultaneously some of the most cultured and refined-sounding amplifiers and can also give the dynamic force and energy needed to place you in the room with the musicians. Usually, amplifiers that are this refined sounding are ‘beauteous’ with all the raw edges smoothed off. And, equally usually, amplifiers that do this much dynamic energy and excitement are a little too ‘edge of the seat’ for all kinds of musical listening. The Zeiler Audio duo are rare for doing both equally well.
A perfect example of this double-handed approach is the recent Bach Trios on Nonesuch, featuring Yo Yo Ma on Cello, Chris Thile on mandolin and Edgar Meyer on bass. These are pieces of raw energy, and the mandolin gives the recordings a freshness and vibrancy that makes them sound new. Too much ‘gloss’ and the recording becomes too sanitised; too much ‘zing’ and the recording loses its music integrity and flow. But on the Zeiler pairing, this trio sounds magical.
This is, in part, a divine balance, with the sublime elegance of the preamp being the perfect foil for the excitement and dynamism of the power amp. But, such combinations often don’t balance as well as these two do, suggesting that – beyond all things – their shared goals of performing a musical disappearing act drive the Zeiler Audio performance.
Zen and the art of sound quality
I could get very Zen koan in all this – what is the sound of no sound? – but these amps are more about the realisation than the soul-searching. I played the live version of Donny Hathaway’s ‘The Ghetto’ followed by the studio version of his cover of ‘Misty’, then the live versions of his covers of ‘Jealous Guy’ and ‘You’ve Got A Friend.’ Most other amps do ‘detail’ or ‘sounstage’ or ‘vocal articulation’ well, and the Zeiler duo are no exception in this, but it was the Zeiler duo that made me think how sad it was that Hathaway died so young, and how wonderful that voice was. For someone who has been playing those albums for decades, it is profound to get past the surface listening and go for a deep dive into why I enjoy them so much.
Granted, the low power output of the PA-01 shapes your options for loudspeakers in a way an amplifier with 20x the power doesn’t. But I’d struggle to find a more powerful amplifier that interacts quite as directly with your music. It’s like getting all the good parts of a single-ended triode design – that sense of effortless, dynamic ‘thereness’ of putting you in the room with the musicians – without the drawbacks of increased distortion (even if it’s benign even-order harmonic distortion, it still adds thickening to the sound) and noise. In fact, with the right loudspeakers, it’s the best of all worlds. And even with not-so-right loudspeakers, as so often your sound is defined by that first watt, the PA-01 makes a very fair case for itself.
The best and worst of us
The shortcomings of both Zeiler Audio amps are more about ‘us’ than the products. The degree of minimalism here might be too much for some to swallow. ‘Shiny, flashy bling’ in Zeiler speak is everyone else’s ‘dark and brooding looking’. This isn’t detracting from the performance or operation; the build quality is fantastic. But if you want indicator lights, Zeiler isn’t for you.
I also suspect the ‘us’ part will extend to that 10W power output. No amount of saying “it doesn’t matter” will reach those who seem set on measuring their ‘audio cred points’ by their amplifier’s output. It’s incredibly frustrating to say how dynamic, powerful, and effortless and how clean an amplifier like the PA-01 sounds, only to have any such sentences excised by someone who has probably never been within 20 miles of the amp. However, that has never stopped people from making their decisions and shouting loudly to defend them.
Self-interest
There is another thing, and it’s pure self-interest on my part. I think the prospective Zeiler Audio buyer isn’t going to come back a few years later to buy a new amp. This is their “I’m done” product that will stop the audiophilia nervosa. And, as an audio reviewer, I don’t want people to do that. I want people to keep returning and buying the magazine or reading the website.
So I’m talking to the adults here. The ones who aren’t swayed by displays, famous names or on-paper specifications. The ones who appreciate a product that is made to be as uncompromising in sound as in build. The ones prepared to make changes and even sacrifices for the best in sound. It is for them that the Zeiler Audio PR-01 and PA-01 are made. Let the ‘little ones’ play with their shiny toys, changing them with the wind as they get bored; that’s not for you. You want to hear the music as it was meant to be played, without the imposition of a sonic signature from the electronics. And as such, the Zeiler Audio PR-01 and PA-01 are for you. Start saving!
Technical specifications
PR-01 preamp and phono stage
Design: Single-Ended Class A Pure Triode
Inputs: 1 × Phono MM, 2 × AUX / Line Level, 1 × AUX / high sensitivity (for vintage equipment)
External phono stages are a relatively recent development for Exposure. The company still produces (rather good) internal moving magnet and moving coil phono cards for many of their integrated amps and preamps and this will be entirely sufficient for many customers. Nevertheless, the option of appealing to people whose compulsions will only be settled by having their phono circuitry in a separate box and competing for the attention of people who own amps without internal phono cards has resulted in the arrival of standalone models of which the VXN is the new flagship.
The VXN might be seen as ‘expediently new’ in that it is a refinement of some existing thinking and makes use of a device that is already in the range. The phono circuit is a development of the one in the XM3; the other Exposure standalone phono stage which has been in the range for some years. The VXN has the same combination of a dedicated moving magnet input and a separate moving coil input that is configured via dip switches on the back. I’ve never been a huge fan of this arrangement and as I become older and more myopic I am still less keen but the ones that Exposure has selected are reasonably tactile. If you are relatively sane and have one cartridge to play records, you will set the VXN once and be done but it might be less appealing to those of you with a few on the go.
Good range
Furthermore, the range of adjustment is pretty good. The moving magnet input fixes impedance at 47kOhms but allows for gain to be adjusted between 40 and 55dB which is handy for high output moving coil designs which will work into moving magnet inputs but tend to work just that little bit better with a bit more gain on hand. Moving coil gain is adjustable between 54 and 66dB which should also handle most gain requirements pretty well. The range of load adjustment for the moving coil section is also very good. Multiple increments are available between 32 and 1,000 ohms, the latter being very useful as one of the resident cartridges here is a Vertere Mystic which requires 1kOhm to sound its best.
While the circuit is the same as the XM3, the VXN refines the process. There are more components in the moving coil stage and these are higher quality devices made of polystyrene, polypropylene and metallised polypropylene. The biggest revision though is that the internal power supply of the XM3 is removed and replaced with a pair of power supply inputs. This is potentially going to be a source of some confusion because you can technically purchase a VXN Phono on its own and be the proud owner of a well finished paperweight.
The VXN Power Supply is required to run the phono stage and this has been around for some time as the power source for the exceptionally talented active crossover system that can be used with Kudos Titan speakers. It supplies two 30v DC outputs via the same locking connection as found on the phono stage. Technically, it’s possible to add a second VXN Power Supply so each channel has its own independent power feed but Exposure only supplied one for testing and I suspect the notion of a two plug phono stage is going to be a bit ‘full on’ for most people.
Any Colour You Like
Both phono stage and PSU are in half width ‘XM’ style casework that is available in black only. Barring their brief foray into out and out design with the MCX Series a few years ago, Exposure has generally gone in for fairly sober looking devices and the VXN Phono is no exception. It’s well made though and in a time when LEDs can come in all manner of arresting colours, there’s something comforting about the red ones used here. Something else that’s worthy of note is that when I first installed the VXN, I kept power supply and phono a shelf apart but the arrival of other things meant they’ve also been tested stacked on top of one another and this hasn’t had any significant effect on noise levels.
In fact, the absence of noise full stop is notable. Even running at the 64dB gain level, the Exposure is seriously quiet and this has attendant benefits to absolutely everything else that it does. Listening initially via Vertere MG-1 MkII turntable, SG-1 HB arm and Mystic cartridge, the manner in which it handles the slow build up of Quail Poppy Ackroyd’s Resolve [One Little Indian] speaks to the fundamental engineering of the Exposure being absolutely correct. This is a deceptively simple piece of music- there’s nothing terribly complex about the melody but the unique technique both Ackroyd and Jo Quail bring to playing their instruments leaves it laden with micro detail that the VXN makes apparent.
Tonal realism is also consistently good. The various instruments that make up the bluegrass rework of Sturgill Simpson’s All Around You on Cuttin’ Grass Vol I [High Top Mountain Records] are all captured in a manner that is unforced, natural and completely believable. Simpson himself is in good voice too with this distinctive tone and annunciation sounding as it should. Compared to some other phono stages I’ve tested at this sort of price point, the soundstage that the Exposure creates is smaller and it tends to sit between the speakers rather than extending beyond them but this is achieved without it tipping over into sounding congested.
This also gives narrower recordings a focus that really benefits them and this does mean that the VXN is truly sensational when it comes to unpicking Indie rock LPs. The dense and potent In This Light and on This Evening by Editors [PIAS] is a case in point. The sweeping urgency of the synth line at the start of the title track that opens into the full fury of the band is something that the VXN delivers with an effortless combination of speed and control that also helps to ensure that bass is usefully deep but impeccably controlled at same time. It undersells the capabilities of the Exposure to say it’s a bit of a rocker but, if you’ve got a library of angsty guys and girls with guitars it’s not going to struggle.
Admirable transparency
There’s an admirable transparency to the way that the VXN goes about its business too. It does a fine job of maintaining the Vertere’s ability to largely not be there (a skill that made it a pig to review but did result in me buying it) and when the MG-1 was used to review the Platanus 3.0S, it was the Exposure that highlighted its imperious ability to be unforced but incredibly involving at the same time (and that had the choice of low loading settings that really benefitted it). Switching to a Michell GyroDec, SME309 and Vertere DDT-II saw the Exposure capture the more propulsive nature of this combination and also benefit slightly from the near cinematic width that the Michell tends to bring to any record that you play on it. The reality is that there are unlikely to be any mainstream turntable arm and cartridge combinations that upset the VXN.
There’s also an indefinable quality to the way that the VXN makes music that I’ve experienced in a few different Exposure devices of late. I’ve often felt that lumping the brand in with the ‘flat earth’ contingent did it something of a disservice. Sure, it times well but other priorities to the performance, particularly around tonal qualities and detail retrieval that are beyond reproach,too. For every ballistic edge it can demonstrate, there was also effortless musicality it delivers so effusively and is no less arresting.
The result is a formidable all rounder. Some people will want something more ornate and the VXN isn’t the best choice for multiple cartridge setups. The musical joy that the VXN brings to pretty much everything you play on it and the spread of equipment that it will work happily with at the same time makes this a tremendous device that continues Exposure’s tremendous recent run of form.
Technical specifications
Type: MM/MC phono preamplifier
MM Input: Sensitivity 5mV for 500mV output, 40dB gain setting
S/N ratio (ref 1kHz and 500mV, A-weighted): >82dB
MC Input Sensitivity: 500mV for 500mV output, 60dB gain setting
S/N ratio (ref 1kHz and 500mV, A-weighted) >72dB
Nominal output 00mV (depending on gain setting)
Maximum Output: 7.8V @1kHz
Output Impedance: 50Ω
THD @ 1kHz ref 500mV output: <0.005%
Frequency response: 30Hz–20kHz ±0.25dB ref 1kHz with LF roll-off below 30Hz
There are several ways to crack the ‘Big DAC’ nut. You can eschew conventional DACs in favour of making your own design; Chord Electronics and dCS being prime examples. Or, taking the DAC as a given, you can engineer the bejesus out of the rest of the circuit. It’s this second route that Allnic Audio has taken with its D-10000 DAC. In auditioning, the results more than pay dividends. The full name of this device is the ‘Allnic Audio D-10000 OTL/OCL DAC’. Those extra six letters mark this converter out for greatness.
Those who like their valve/tube amps might recognise ‘OTL’ or ‘output transformer-less’. As the name suggests, OTL designs remove the transformer from the output stage of valve/tube circuits. Removing much of the iron and wire in the process. OTL designs feature in amplifiers like David Berning, Linear Tube, and Atma-Sphere. However, Allnic uses an OTL in the output stage of its DAC.
The other three-letter acronym (OCL) is short for ‘output capacitor-less’. This means Allnic also does away with any capacitors in the signal path of the DAC’s output stage. Once again, this is unheard of in most amplifier circuits and is unique in DAC designs.
Why is this important? Two of the biggest sources of audio electronic coloration are the output transformers and capacitors in the signal path. They put several large sources of distortion between the digital conversion and the amplifier. Some might like that distortion, but it’s still a distortion.
Breed traits
However, those who have had first-hand experience with OTL designs point to the immediacy and lack of coloration as characteristics of the breed. The D-10000 does nothing to change that observation. Also, designers strive to limit the impact of capacitors in any output stage. Once again, in listening to the D-10000, the signature dynamic freedom and grain-free high-frequency performance of low-or-no capacitor output stages shines through and more than applies here.
Were the Allnic Audio D-10000 simply a basic digital circuit with a ‘pimped out’ output stage sporting two pentode/triode 7258 tubes, two twin-triode 12AU7 tubes, and four 6C19P triodes, we’d be happy. However, Allnic Audio didn’t leave the digital part alone, either. And this could be one of those parts where things go very wrong, very fast, because people with years of experience in analogue engineering are not automatically gifted with digital audio smarts. Fortunately, Allnic’s founder and designer Kang Su Park called on the digital skills of fellow Korean audio experts, Waversa Systems. Waversa’s stamp on the D-10000 means the DAC can convert PCM signals to DSD or upsample PCM in multiples up to 352kHz or 384kHz.
Exceptional Standards
Like all Allnic designs, the D-10000 is finished to an exceptional standard throughout and reminiscent of classic valve/tube amp designs of the Golden Age of the late 1950s/early 1960s. The two glowing meters for biasing and tube health aid that look, but aside from a few orange LEDs, you could be mistaken for thinking it a new-old-stock Scott or Marantz tuner from 60 or more years ago.
Allnic Audio also makes several OTL/OCL line-stage preamplifiers, but don’t think you need to use that degree of sonic performance to hear what the D-10000 can do; you can hear its character shining through on even the humblest amplifiers.
We’ve already touched on a few of the ‘breed characteristics’ common to OTL/OCL designs (low coloration, unobstructed dynamic range), but there’s one important consideration that perhaps defines everything about the D-10000; the way it represents an ideal line-level load for an amplifier. It’s practically an impedance archetype that comes across as an exceptionally low-noise, powerfully engaging sound from the first bars of the first piece of music you play. It doesn’t matter whether that is Barber’s Adagio or Justin Bieber’s ‘Love Yourself’; those first bars come as something of a shock, and the rest follow suit.
Big and bold
Throughout, the sound could be described as big and bold. Not in an overblown way, just in that full and rich way of open-reel or good vinyl. It doesn’t try to replicate the sound of older formats – it still has that clean and direct sound full of detail and information that the format does so well. However, it’s also got that cogent scale and size that vinyl does so well. What I mean is when listening to a small orchestral piece, moving down to a small jazz combo or string quartet, then trading up to something with maximum bombast (usually Mahler), the size and scale of the music changes, but has a sense of body that is often missing from digital replay.
Allnic’s D-10000 DAC points to an interesting dichotomy in digital audio reviewing. The vocabulary used to write about digital and analogue are often very different. But with the Allnic, I found my words tended more toward the analogue. As I said, not in an artificial way; more that the music sounded more vivid and ‘real’; full-bodied and enjoyable rather than cool. Unless you are at the very top of the digital audio tree, this will make a lot of digital audio move from ‘cool’ to ‘sterile’ sounding, and a lot of its rivals that go for a more organic sound do so at the expense of detail, which the D-10000 never does.
I Got Tone
Some of this comes down to its frankly lovely presentation. Guitarists often talk about ‘tone’ and spend a small fortune on pickups, pedals and power to try and create the right tone. Often, tone comes down as much to the player’s style as to the electronics, but the D-10000 is a natural at this tone thing; I think it’s something to do with the harmonic structure of its sound, or maybe the gain and output impedance being so good a match to preamplifier stages.
Still, you find yourself smiling along to wry vocals and playing air guitar along with the music that bit more. This is a hard and abstract thing to describe but immediately understandable on audition.
Allnic’s only DAC demands the best in music, however. And that might sound odd coming from someone who cited Justin Bieber a few paragraphs ago but stay with me on this. It showed the Justin Bieber track as surprisingly dynamic if incredibly forward and close-mic’d. What the Allnic D-10000 cannot abide are thin and compressed-sounding recordings. The tracks where there’s no harmonic joy to be had – such as ‘Californication’ by the Red Hot Chili Peppers from the album of the same name [Warners] – is thrown into sharp accent. Fortunately, the worst excesses of the Loudness War are behind us, but the Allnic D-10000 doesn’t suffer these musical fools gladly.
One of the best
It feels somehow wrong to criticise the Allnic D-1000 for the worst excesses of badly produced albums. In fairness, that was about as close as this gets to criticism. In almost every musical case it brought out the best of the music. It didn’t matter whether it was fed from a Hegel Mohican CD through S/PDIF, or via USB from an Innuos Statement Next Gen streamer. It gives music a structure and dimensionality that is hard to beat at any price.
There will always be those who claim a top-class DAC must always have a custom digital converter at its heart. But Allnic Audio’s D-10000 shows the importance of a well-produced output stage. It helps make one of the best DACs in the world. And that’s outside of matching OTL/OCL preamps and power amps. That could raise the game still further and perhaps be the best digital audio sound ever.
Technical specifications
Type: OTL/OCL DAC
Tubes/Valves used: 2 × 7258, 2 × 12AU7, 4 × 6C19P
Digital inputs: 1 Optical (“Toslink”), 1 USB, 1 AES/EBU digital (XLR), 2 coaxial digital (RCA). Can be configured at factory as 2 COAX, 1 COAX/1 BNC, or 2 BNC
Analogue outputs: One pair unbalanced (RCA), One pair balanced (XLR)
February 19, 2024 – This year Triangle have shipped their highly anticipated Borea Connect range, which introduces two new active models packed with Class D amplification, on-board DA conversion and a wealth of connectivity.
Equal Parts Elegant & Compact
Triangle’s Borea Connect range aims to deliver audiophile sound quality along with unlimited home audio connectivity, all in a single compact package. From smartphones to TVs and record decks, every source is right at home with Borea Connect.
Despite the small footprints of the BR02 and BR03 Connect models, each model packs 50W and 60W per side respectively with the ability to comfortably fill rooms of up to 20 and 35 square metres.
Streaming-Ready
Each Borea Connect speaker system benefits from the very latest-generation Bluetooth 5.0 APTX HD low latency technology. Streaming from any smartphone or Bluetooth device renders incredible sampling rates of up to 24 bits and 48kHz instantaneously, ensuring high definition listening with accurate dynamics.
For users sporting alternative digital sources, BR02 and BR03 models also come equipped with TOSLink and coaxial inputs, ARC for immersive theatre and CEC-enabled TV connectivity via HDMI, and a USB-B input giving any computer instant access to the speaker’s built-in DA conversion.
No Vinyl Left Behind
In a testament to Triangle’s one-system ethos, Borea Connect models also ship with a built-in phono stage for direct connection to turntables. For other analogue devices, users can take advantage of a 3.5mm mini-jack input perfect for auditioning non-digital sources in a flash.
Both BR02 and BR03 models also include a dedicated subwoofer output perfect for extending the low end on electronic music.
Available Now!
Borea Connect models are available in 6 colours – Oak, Black, Green, Light Oak, Blue and Cream. For further information on specs, pricing and availability, contact SCV’s home audio sales team.
February 16, 2024 – Music lovers looking for the perfect deck to partner with their much-loved Exposure Electronics hi-fi components need look no further: the new Exposure 360 turntable has arrived.
British hi-fi brand Exposure Electronics is, as the company’s full name suggests, one whose focus tends to be firmly on electronics. With the launch of its first ever turntable, does this mean that the company is diversifying?
“Not exactly,” says Exposure. “This is more a case of ‘you asked, we listened’. Our customers have, for a while, been asking us for an Exposure turntable that seamlessly complements our range of electronics.”
The new Exposure 360 has been crafted in collaboration with a leading British turntable manufacturer and is designed to be that ‘perfect partner’ for the Exposure range, as well as being in keeping with the company’s ethos of creating products “that consistently outperform their direct competitors at prices that are as astounding as their performance”.
The turntable is built around a super lightweight plinth, in which a core of polyurethane foam (a material developed for the aerospace industry) is sandwiched between an extremely thin and rigid high-pressure laminate.
A dual-layer float glass platter, whose increased mass is designed for high speed stability, sits atop the sub-platter, which in turn is part of the bearing assembly and comprises a single piece of machined aluminium, also designed for enhanced speed stability. The bearing features an ultra-low friction brass hub which is anchored to the plinth using a machined aluminium collar.
The low-noise, synchronous 24V motor is driven by an aluminium drive pulley with belt. A dedicated, separate power supply, which is hand-tuned and precision-matched to the motor for each individual turntable, prevents unwanted noise from entering the turntable and ensures that delicate low-level signals are protected from potential sources of interference. The power supply unit provides push-button speed selection, advanced anti-vibration control and electronic fine speed adjustment.
The 360’s integrated tonearm features an arm tube designed using intelligent redistribution of mass to ensure fewer points of possible resonance, while its mounting is braced to the bearing housing to ensure maximum rigidity and accuracy.
Isolation feet are made from santoprene rubber and reinforced by aluminium.
The 360 turntable features Exposure’s signature minimalist design, and comes in a grey matt finish with high gloss black polymer edge trim and a distinctive vibrant red turntable mat. The turntable is supplied with a smoked polystyrene dust cover and is suitable for use with MC, MM or other cartridges (not included).
Technical specifications
Connectivity
RCA / phono
Power
Mini DIN for connection to supplied PSU
Turntable dimensions (lid closed)
447mm (w) x 120mm (h) x 360mm (d)
PSU dimensions
180mm (w) x 50mm (h) x 155mm (d)
Weight
5.2kg
Pricing & availability
The Exposure 360 turntable is available now, priced at £1,300 (incl. VAT).
When Deutsche Grammophon released Claudio Abbado’s Berlin recording of Mahler’s 5th symphony on CD in 1993, the notion that – in 30 or so years time – DG would issue it on LP would have seemed absurd; impossible; stark staring bonkers.
Abbado’s Mahler 5 was one of DG’s first 4D recordings. Taken from live performances given in the Berlin Philharmonie, it’s a powerful refined account with smooth, open, natural sound, and an enormously-wide dynamic range. A to D converters were used close to the microphones in order to digitise signals as soon as possible.
The performance lasts a shade under 70m and for vinyl it’s spread over four LP sides. Previous vinyl issues nearly always put Mahler 5 on three sides. This meant having the first two movements on side one, resulting in a fairly long playing time around the 27m to 29m mark.
Abbado takes a little over 27m for the first two movements, but with each on a single LP side there’s no problem for the disc mastering engineer having to try and cut a long side while maintaining a fairly high volume level. However, cutting levels are not especially high. They might easily have been raised 3dB or more. I want to see nice deep squiggly grooves!
Fortunately, the surfaces on DG’s new pressings are super-quiet. Vinyl roar and surface ticks and pops are very low, so you can increase volume levels and not hear any background noise. My pressings were very clean and quiet, though side three was a wee bit ‘swishy’ in places – hopefully a fault limited to my particular set.
Comparing Abbado’s Mahler 5 LPs with Karajan’s (released in 1975), the older set is cut at the same peak level but subjectively the sound has more immediacy and heft. That said Karajan’s climaxes sometimes feel slightly compressed – perhaps due to analogue tape squash.
On my equipment, Abbado’s smooth sweet-sounding recording has less immediacy than Karajan’s, which is sharper and more-focused. Tonally, DG’s best 4D recordings sounded very natural and open with no fake digital brightness or glare, but could sometimes sound almost too neutral.
It sounds like Abbado’s Tonmeister Gernot von Schultzendorff used a simple microphone technique. The 4D process allowed time-delay, enabling close and distantly-placed microphones to integrate-better and create phase-coherent results. So perhaps that’s why any spot-mics used are so discreet.
From a balance and perspective standpoint, there’s no question that Abbado’s Berlin Mahler 5 is much less ‘stage managed’ than many of DG’s recordings from the previous 15 years or so. You sense the sound captured is just as it happened, live in the hall.
The Philharmonie in Berlin is an unusual hall, placing the orchestra in the centre of the auditorium rather than an enclosed space near a rear wall. Abbado’s performance was recorded in front of an audience (with applause at the end), so this would have damped the sound somewhat.
Abbado’s Mahler 5 is sumptuously played – sleek, powerful, trenchant, with exquisite detail. It’s a refined sophisticated virtuoso rendition. Surprisingly, Karajan is less polished, but more passionate, throwing caution to the wind for the excitement of the moment. His Adagietto is to die for.
Both are superlative readings, and stand high among the best Mahler 5s. But does being on vinyl add anything extra to the Abbado/Berlin set over CD/SACD? I’m not sure it does. Abbado’s vinyl sounds good, but the SACD showcases the original recording with far greater fidelity.
Abbado’s vinyl doesn’t quite give you that extra sense of holographic-dimensionality and spacious-richness that’s there with DG’s Kubelik and Karajan Mahler 5 LPs. It’s good, but would have sounded much-more vivid if cutting levels had been a few dB higher…
The core members of The God in Hackney are Andy Cooke (guitars, vocals, piano, loops, samples), Dan Fox (guitars, bass, vocals, piano, synths, samples), Ashley Marlowe (drums, synthesizer, noise channels) and Nathaniel Mellors vocals, piano, bass guitar, synths, samples, FX). As a whole, The God in Hackney sound is difficult to pigeon hole and that’s part of its appeal; this band has makes music like few others.
For this project, the group expanded their line-up to include multi-instrumentalists and composers Eve Essex and Kelly Pratt (Father John Misty, David Byrne/St Vincent). The God in Hackney are from Los Angeles, but the music they make is almost as English as it gets with deep roots in the avant garde and art rock worlds. Foreign culture is often more appealing than one’s own and frequently encourages more thorough investigation, and that at least seems to be the case here.
They are excellent musicians and highly inventive composers with more than an eye on the way the music is shaped. The World in Air Quotes opens with ‘In The Face of a New Science’ which is lyrically the best song on the album, with lines like “No one told us our reasoning was becoming unreasonable” and some beautiful if sombre trumpet playing. Like many pieces on the album it builds both lyrically and musically to a restrained crescendo and them morphs down to an acoustic denouement. The songwriter clearly has a sense of dread but mixes it with subtle humour.
‘Heaven & Black Water’ is the most conventional song on the album, with a 4/4 beat and an 1980s influenced structure. Here the vocal has been given the autotune treatment, possibly in an attempt to broaden its appeal or maybe just for the sake of variety, I suspect that the latter is more likely. The guitar on ‘Bardo!’ could be Andy Summers, the lyrics have something of The Police’s darkest moments about them too but the multiplication of voices and the introduction of caustic saxophone take it to a much heavier place. This piece gets intense and is a test of any system’s timing, with clangy chords, mucho percussion and a mercifully abrupt finale.
‘Interstate 5’ is a standout piece with superb drum playing and kit sound that’s occasionally manipulated but largely straight and true. Its joined by bass before a silent bridge after which the combo are joined by guitar and eventually keyboards. The final quarter could be John Wetton era King Crimson such is the ferocity of the bass sound. The other clear highlight is ‘Broken Pets’ where clean and distorted guitar are contrasted to good effect with a song that comes across like a British urban blues inasmuch as there is nothing in the arrangement to suggest the blues save for the nature of the lyrics. The piece is full of tension that’s produced by a glitchy electronica and brass backing; this threatens to break open at any moment like a vast sinkhole appearing in a cul-de-sac.
Dark undercurrents circulate around all 11 songs on The World in Air Quotes yet the overall feel is not one of misery. The God in Hackney do their best to sound British and are very convincing yet clearly they don’t have to endure the grimy reality of life in a down at heel if fashionable London suburb, nor the grey skies of winter. ‘A Frozen Western’ is the only song with American influences, primarily these are provided by a B-52s beat over discordant electric guitar, snappy snare drum and tremulous trumpet. It gets pretty chaotic but just about holds together, which makes it all the more rewarding.
The World in Air Quotes is a well-produced album with very appealing sound sculpting that’s achieved by giving the voice and instruments their own distinct acoustic shapes. The way that some tracks are reinforced with deep bass is also very appealing, adding to the sense of layering and giving the sound real depth. Not for the faint of heart but not challenging either The World in Air Quotes should put The God in Hackney on the map, maybe even in Hackney.
The retro trend is everywhere these days. It pervades every consumer product from bathrooms and cars to light bulbs. There is no reason to assume, then, that hi-fi should escape this treatment, and this integrated valve amplifier from Japanese manufacturer Leben is no exception.
The CS300XS screams retro from every orifice, from its very attractive gold anodised front and rear panels to its large knobs and beautiful Canadian ash end panels – a hard-wearing wood that is used, they tell us, to make baseball bats. Even the on/off switch and the selector toggle switch for headphones and tape monitor have an unashamedly retro look and feel.
Leben’s founder is a chap called Taku Hyodo, who is a highly experienced audio engineer who has worked for the likes of Luxman and went on to form a company that produced electronic components and PCBs in 1979. He then branched out to manufacture amplifiers under the KFH brand for PA use.
His first model under the Leben brand was the RSA-35a power amp (with 6L6GS valves) in 1995. With a growing following in Japan, Hyodo started to produce lower-cost amps, starting with the CS200 – the first in the line that includes the CS300XS reviewed here, the CD300F that our editor reviewed back in August 2021, and the more expensive CS600X, which sells for £7,995, offers 32W and uses four 6L6GC power tubes.
Beautifully put together
The CS300XS is beautifully put together and has a ruggedness that encourages one to think it is built to last. Three large, chunky selector switches on the front panel select the input. adjust channel balance and, on the far right, provide a bass boost of +3dB or +5dB. I have to admit I never once felt any need to use that. Then there is a large rotary volume knob, while toggle switches turn the amp on and off, select headphones or speakers and tape monitor. Tape monitor is unusual to find these days, and while the rebirth of the cassette may be a hipster flash in the pan, there is a serious revival underway of reel-to-reel, so this would be music to their ears.
On the rear panel, there are five RCA line level inputs, a ground terminal, four chunky WBT speaker terminals and a rotary selector to select the right tapping from the output transformers of either 4Ω, 6Ω or 8Ω, depending on the nominal impedance of your chosen loudspeakers.
Internally, all wiring is point-to-point with no PCBs. The valves sit in smart gold-plated holders, and in addition to the large mains transformer, there are two newly-developed, custom-made Leben output transformers designed for an extended high-frequency response.
Two EL84 pentode power tubes are used in a push-pull configuration with one ECC83 driver per channel. EL84s are found in many designs today and were initially developed by the Philips/Mullard Group specifically for audio use. The amp uses a self-biasing circuit that will accept new tubes without rebias and adjusts to any variations in the tubes themselves. Leben says they also use precision industrial-grade resistors, Nichicon Fine Gold condensers and a 4W high-power cathode resistor.
I have been using valve amps for some time now and will confess to a leaning in that direction, although let’s not forget there are some mighty fine solid-state amps around these days, too. You’d be mistaken if you were expecting today’s modern tube amps to sound warm and cuddly. They may have great musicality, but they can still be detailed and dynamic – just listen to the Audio Note OTO, Cobra, or the Rogers ES20a II.
Running-in… I’ll pass!
Luckily, the importers assured me that no lengthy running-in would be necessary with the review sample. So, I gave it the customary half-hour to warm up before settling back for each listening session.
Obviously, with just 15W to play with, you will need to choose your speakers carefully, depending on their sensitivity, the size of your listening room and how loud you like to listen. Avoid inefficient speakers if hard rock played at full tilt is your bag. There are speakers around that offer good sound and high sensitivity – consider models like the Klipsch 8000F II or Forte IV with sensitivities of around 99dB, the Audio Note AN-J at 93dB or various models from Heco (around 93dB) and JBL (L100 Classic is 90dB). If you find a speaker to your taste with a sensitivity of around 90dB or more, you will enjoy even high levels in a normal room without problems.
I used the CS300X with the Audio Note AN-J LX Hemp and Klipsch RP8000F II, and they drove perfectly. I also, at the end of my listening, hooked it up to a pair of Neat Petite Classic, which has a sensitivity rating of 87dB, and they were fine too, but I do not think high levels in a larger room than mine (19ft x 13ft) would have been ideal.
As a source, I used an Audio Note CDT-Five transport and DAC5 special to assess what the Leben could do, as well as vinyl from an Audio Note TT3/Arm2/Io1 and S9 transformer through the very nice Puresound valve phono stage, as the Leben, for all of its retro credentials, does not come with a phono stage built-in.
No confusion
The first track on the TT3’s platter was ‘A Place for Skipper’ from ace guitarist Larry Carlton’s Discovery album. The whole balance and presentation of the Leben was immediately pleasing. No harshness, muddiness or confusion. Carlton’s guitar had a beautifully crisp sound and the detail of how each note was played was well presented, teaming up with drums, bass and percussion to form a cohesive whole that made sense of the music. Bass lines were weighty, tuneful and moved well. I had a very good, similarly priced solid transistor to hand that I also liked a lot, but while it was detailed and coherent, the overall sound was somehow colder and less engaging. Instruments on the Leben had a depth and sense of solidity, fullness and presence that simply made them seem more real.
Spinning up Ben Sidran’s CD ‘Shine a Light on Me’ from the Enivré d’Amour album, the Leben was immediately in the groove. It was great to hear how the track moved and the musicians played together to create a musical performance that was just so tight – as top session guys such as these always are. Sidran’s vocals were full of emotion and had great warmth and articulation. Rhythmically, the Leben had a grip of iron on the music, allowing fluidity and a sense of movement that was immensely pleasing and compelling.
Still on CD, I tried the ‘Honey Dipped’ track from the Saxophonic album by one of my favourite sax players, Dave Koz. Straight off, the Leben captured the funky, driving rhythms of the track and conveyed Koz’s sax with power, detail and delicacy simultaneously. The track moved along beautifully on the Leben, and switching back to the solid-state amp just seemed to remove some of that cohesiveness and magic that usually brings a smile to my face and gets my foot tapping along.
Up until now, I had been listening to the Audio AN-J, so I quickly swapped to the Klipsch RP8000F II I reviewed recently (hi-fi+ 216). They got on like a house on fire – dynamic, lively, detailed, melodic, and musically coherent. No nasties. They just worked and made a combination I would wholeheartedly recommend.
I also had no trouble using the Neat Petite Classics (sensitivity 87dB) with the CS300X. It drove them loud enough for me in my listening room and was a good partner for the very musical and well-balanced Neats. Listening at sensible levels – after all, I do have neighbours! – I could detect no signs of harshness or grittiness that might suggest the amp was clipping.
On balance, the Leben CS300XS turned in an admirable performance and joins my growing list of recommended valve amps. But what does set it apart is its price. It’s great value with a sound quality that betters many more highly priced solid-state amps. And if you combine them with the Klipsch RP8000F II, you have the makings of an exceptionally good system without breaking the bank.
Technical specifications
Type: Two-channel valve integrated amplifier
Valves: 4 x Sovtek EL84, 2 x Sovtek ECC83
Inputs: 5 x RCA
Outputs: 1 tape out, 1 x headphone jack 6.35mm, 1 x speaker
It must be tough working in the Bowers & Wilkins R&D department; the rate at which they produce new product lines is blistering. It only seems like yesterday that the 800 D4 series came to market (apparently it was a couple of years ago) and the last S2 range of 700 series models are not a lot older but market demand never sleeps it seems and you have to wonder whether Bowers’ engineers do as well.
The 702 S3 is the largest model in Bowers & Wilkins penultimate range and harbours more bass drivers than any other loudspeaker that the company makes, there are larger drivers in the 802 and 801 but not three of them. It benefits from a great deal of the tech developed for that range and in fact has the same midrange driver as the 802. The driver in that model has the advantage of its own machined aluminium ‘head’ enclosure but it’s fundamentally the same chassis, motor system and cone. Which given that it’s about a quarter of the price makes the 702 S3 look like rather good value. I’m here to tell you that for this and many other reasons it is.
Trickle down
This speaker is tall but not very imposing thanks to a slim sub eight-inch front baffle that is only slightly wider than the four drive units that it supports, you don’t often see drivers that nearly reach the edge of a cabinet like this. At a glance the front baffle looks flat but it is in fact curved in section with the driver trims inset into it. This gives a pleasing contrast between the flat of the surround against the baffle. The drivers are where Bowers’ 800 series developments are to be found, especially in the midrange which has a woven Continuum cone. This cone is made in the company’s Worthing, West Sussex facility in order to protect their IP (intellectual property) and while it superficially resembles the yellow Kevlar cones of earlier generations, the weave is clearly finer when the two are contrasted, this and the process by which the cones are produced is Bowers & Wilkins’ secret sauce.
The other key development that appears in this midrange unit is invisible, it’s the so-called spider that holds the voice coil former centrally within the magnet. Bowers calls this biomimetic suspension, suggesting that it imitates nature, which given that it’s so efficient in the way that the minimum of material is used to achieve the desired result has some credence. Essentially it’s a six-spoked plastic ring that is considerably lighter and thus less mechanically noisy than the fabric spirals found on most other drivers. At present, you only get this suspension on midrange drivers, which means three-way designs (or bigger) such as the 702 S3.
Pure carbon
The three bass drivers on this model are described as 165mm types, thus larger than the 150mm mid that appears to be the same size, go figure. These have Aerofoil profile cones which while they look conventional have a sandwich construction with a foam core that is thicker in the middle and thinner at the inner and outer edges in order to maximise stiffness without excess mass. Again this is found in the 800 series models albeit at a larger scale. At the top of the box is the distinctive Solid Body tweeter housing with a permanent grille protecting the driver. The machined aluminium pod is longer than in previous generations in order to give the rearward energy from the driver more space to dissipate in, and it’s mounted on two points which allow for a greater degree of compliance and thus isolation from energy coming off the cabinet.
The tweeter dome is a decoupled carbon dome. This is made up of a layer of carbon coating (by way of Physical Vapour Deposition) over an aluminium dome, with an additional carbon ring is used to reinforce the dome around its base and thus increase stiffness, which in turn raises the break up point.
The cabinet differs from the 702 S2 by virtue of a downward firing reflex port that is raised about an inch above an integral plinth by four aluminium legs. This gets around the tilt test issues addressed by a separate and seemingly enormous plinth in previous versions without looking so big, the plinth is 290mm wide by 410mm deep but the black version below a black loudspeaker doesn’t look out of scale. The bi-wire cable terminals are arranged in a horizontal line near the base and look swanky in a shiny, maybe stainless, finish.
Position, position, position
Loudspeaker positioning is as critical as location is to retail and with this and other models in the new 700 series it seems to be more so than usual. When the guys from Bowers brought these speakers round they spent half an hour setting them up with toe in ending up almost directly toward the listening seat and with about 40cm to the rear wall. It clearly sounded good to them, so I lived with them that way for a few days, however, while extremely detailed and resolute the balance was so lean that they lacked charm and musicality. Eventually I gave up with minor system tweaks and put them closer to the rear wall and turned them so that there was very little toe in, only then did things start to become inspiring. This positioning had also proved to be beneficial with the 705 S3s when they were in the system, I really should have thought of it earlier.
I suspect that an engineer’s idea of a good sound will not always line up with a music lover’s, they are probably looking for the minimum of room interaction to keep tonal balance linear while I want some warmth and heart in my music and cannot survive on detail alone. Once this was sorted however I was blown away by the sheer quantity and coherence of musical detail that the 702 S3s managed to deliver, that midrange driver is in a class of its own at this price point and the bass and high frequency drivers are superbly aligned with it. The transparency to vocals is remarkable, I got to understand lyrics that I’ve heard many times over without comprehending them, and I realised that the singer in the ostensibly American band The God in Hackney is definitely a Brit. This clarity applies to instruments as well of course, Esbjörn Svensson’s piano playing is so expressive, the recording on his solo album Home. S-sounds are a little hard edged but the timing with these speakers is so good that it’s not an issue. Also, the instrument has the weight and body you’d expect.
Despite the quantity of bass drivers this is not a heavy or fat sounding speaker, shove it into a corner and it might become that way but when placed optimally you get just the right amount of low end weight and energy to balance out the rest of the band. What it does do exceptionally well is stop and start, play heavy dub through it and the degree of articulation of bass lines is top notch, they have mass and energy but absolutely no bloom unless it’s on the record. The better the recording the better the sound of course, Rumer’s version of ‘Don’t Interrupt the Sorrow’ is plush and open with oodles of fine detail that the 702 S3s resolve with ease, digging into the reverb and pushing back the wall behind them. An older recording in Andy Bey’s soulful ‘Celestial Blues’ (Experience and Judgement, Speakers Corner) is revealed to have more energy and vitality than it usually gives up, thanks largely to the low noise of these speakers. All the work that went into reducing coloration and keeping drivers isolated is audible in the quieter sounds that are usually masked.
It’s interesting to note that Bowers’ engineers are working on reducing noise in loudspeakers in a different way but with the same aim as electronics specialists are trying to stop noise from undermining the quality of digital streams. The source may differ but the end result is the same, lower noise equals more signal being revealed and higher fidelity being achieved.
High def
The Bowers & Wilkins 702 S3 makes life very difficult for other loudspeaker manufacturers. It delivers extremely high definition with very low coloration at a price that few can begin to compete with. You need a reasonably powerful amplifier to get the best out of this model, probably a minimum of 75 good quality Watts, but nonetheless this is an impressive achievement in a professionally executed package. Just remember to set it up carefully.
Technical specifications
Type: Three-way, five-driver, floorstanding loudspeaker with bass reflex enclosure
Driver complement: One 25mm (1 in) Decoupled Carbon Dome tweeter; one 150mm (6 in) Continuum cone FST midrange; three 165mm (6.5 in) Aerofoil Profile bass drivers
As the brushes gently excite and shimmer the cymbals, the bass and piano play a brief, tumbling introductory suggestion and the scene is set. The entire intimacy of the playing and the gentle pace invokes a dark and broody feel with the instruments shining in stark relief against the silence of the expansive acoustic. The piano begins its introspection and the soundstage depth opens up further. Just the drums, the string bass and the rich and wonderfully expressive piano come together forming a perfect trio of musical contemplation. I am listening to Solitude from The Joni Letters by the superb Herbie Hancock and I am hearing it through the Engström Arne Mk 2 integrated amplifier. When I hear Herbie is feeling out the notes and in a contemplative mood then so am I. This amplifier is so often about atmosphere and allowing the power of the music to impose itself upon you through emotional connection. It soon becomes apparent that this is a large part of the beguiling nature of the Arne Mk 2 because this music sounds simply beautiful.
The Arne Mk 2 is a 300B-based tube amplifier and a refined development of the amplifier that we reviewed back in 2020. But, if you could hear it without seeing it, then you might not immediately guess. Because if you think of tube amplifiers as somewhat languid, warm tone-master devices that are only occasionally exceptional then the Arne will surprise you. If you give it a mere half-hour to stretch its legs and warm through then it could very well shock you with its musical scope.
Clean cut
The amplifier is designed and built by Engström in Sweden and the review sample was finished in brilliant white. With its clean-cut lines and half-glass cover it reminded me of a piece of medical equipment. It is a physically substantial piece that really needs to be mounted in some clear air. Output is quoted at 30 watts per channel and operation is truly minimalist in that it offers just a large 48 stepped volume control and one smaller rotary knob for selecting one of its four line inputs. These are a couple of pairs of both balanced and single-ended connections at the rear plus some binding posts/4mm sockets for a single pair of loudspeakers. There is no front panel on/off switch, instead this is found at the rear next to the power input. Most will employ the neat remote control but this operates the volume and mute only. The Arne Mk 2 is based on two pairs of 300B triode tubes. Boyer Audio, the importer are able to supply the amplifier with several different options of 300Bs and these will differ in both performance and price. They installed this one with a quartet of Takatsuki tubes, which are around £1,100 each. The most basic tubes that Boyer recommend are the Emission Labs EML 300B which cost £1,300 for a set. Between the two are the Elrog ER 300s at £2,700. I never had the chance to compare other makes but Boyer tell me that, once they have experienced what the Takatsukis bring to the party, most customers nod wisely and pay for the musical quality that they provide. It also means that owners won’t need to indulge in tube rolling.
It runs hot. In fact for someone used to conventional solid state amplification, it runs very hot and though there is a rather artistic ventilation outlet on the top of the casework, the glass lid covers this as well as the tubes themselves. Perhaps there is some chimney-type airflow design feature that eludes me here but as some of the considerable heat seems to flow from within the chassis section I wonder if the vents might not have been left unobstructed for improved cooling.
Trimming out
It takes about 30 minutes of running before the Arne Mk 2 trims out while growing faster and a lot tighter, especially through the bass and this continues to develop for a while longer. This impressive speed is one of its core features. The Arne Mk 2 handles music that more conventional tube amplifiers might not be entirely suited to with surprising ease. Heavy rock, played at pace, manic drummers with twin kick drums pounding out a driving rhythm against a murderously relentless bass guitar and a couple of electric guitar shredders? Not too much of a problem for the Arne which laps it up. As a caveat though I imagine that anyone who listens to this music exclusively would go the solid-state route but the Arne Mk 2 does a very respectable job nevertheless. Certainly it’s the amplifier’s freedom and speed of dynamic movement that is so impressive should you have a general taste for intense instrumental drive leaning you towards a system that can recover as fast as it delivers.
On more circumspect music it soon established itself as one of the most beautiful sounding amplifiers I have ever had at home. Those with large rooms and/or inefficient speakers may look at the 30 watt per channel output and wonder. I get that, but in a smallish listening room through a pair of Wilson Duette 11 speakers and some excellent cabling, sourced by the superb dCS Rossini streaming set-up it was entirely adequate volume wise. More important for me was that it proved quite epic in its stunning ability to bring the music into the room.
Listening to Andrew Marlin’s album The Witching Hour and the way that the Arne dealt with the combination of the mandolin and the fiddle was joyous. Marlin certainly knows how to put these two instruments together and often uses them in unison to wonderful effect. This is a modern take on Bluegrass by a thoroughly schooled musician who often grows the languid violin lines out of the much shorter duration of the mandolin notes and the Arne shows you what he is doing by drawing musical pictures in the air between you and the speakers. The tonality and focus is superb and the instrumental placement crazily precise within time and space. As ever the Arne Mk 2 has this wonderful habit of connecting you to the music you like, making it a pure joy.
Conjuring up atmosphere
Regardless of how simple or complex the music is or how it has been recorded this amplifier gives it to you straight and it thrives on both the busy and the spatial. In fact its sense of the whole recording acoustic is one of the best I have ever heard and its ability to conjure up atmosphere often relies on its slightly eerie ways with soundstage depth. The Wilsons are pretty good at this and though a 30 watt tube amplifier might not be the first thing you might think of as their ideal partner, it worked superbly. I found myself growing more and more intrigued and fascinated by the way the Arne casts its spell so wide and deep, holding the tiniest of threads and details together while remaining incredibly explicit. That’s a good word to describe how it goes about its business actually. Tonal colours combine with natural articulation to let you right in there, regardless of the style or type of music you fancy listening to. With the possible exception of David Berning’s QZ amplifiers I haven’t heard this level of precisely expressed detail from a tube amp before.
It has a way with creating soundstages and layering perspectives within them. Instrumental levels are so refined especially with their relationships to each other that you are left with a vista which shows the producer’s and mix engineer’s hand. The Arne Mk 2 doesn’t necessarily create its own sense of space but it is superb at painting a broad picture of each recording. The merest touch of a pan control shows perspective shifts drawn large across your listening space and this is so powerful, especially when voices and instruments come together.
Listening to the desolate, windy openness of Bobby Woods and Les Deux Love Orchestra’s Wagon Train reminded me of a John Ford western where wagons and John Wayne move against a backdrop of an eternal Monument Valley. Evocative is the word I think and the pure atmosphere this amplifier can create must, in some part, be down to the pure excellence of those Takatsuki tube upgrades. Yes, the amplifier is fast and dynamically impressive but adding its ability to communicate the music through sound visualisations move it on to a whole new level.
Faithfulness to pitch
The Arne has a faithfulness to pitch and a feeling of absolute security that film scores and some classical pieces with their often long and languid backdrops rely on as sustained scenic poetry. Against these shifting ambient sands, the movie drama can be writ large and it often comes in the most dynamic interjections. The power with which the Arne Mk 2 can deliver a loose-skinned timpani drum blow to the sound pressure level within the frame and to the senses is an unforgettable part of the experience. Creating an atmosphere is one of its very strongest points and it manages this across a huge swathe of music. It’s so thick you can practically scrape it off the walls.
So, if you were imagining that this Engström amplifier was going to be the sort of device that you might be interested in if you listened exclusively to small Jazz combos then I must disillusion you on that one. It is true that it was named after a well-known Swedish jazz musician and it is even more true that it will sound magnificent on that style of music. I have listened to Miles Davis Nefertiti through it a few times and found myself lost in admiration with the musicianship. Few amplifiers manage quite the same feeling of closeness to the musician and touch-ability of sound as the Arne Mk 2 majors on. When the playing is vivid, the Arne Mk 2 lets you know. In fact it can often sound quite forward. Fall, my favourite track on the album shows just how much colour, texture and pure delicacy of note-weight the Arne Mk 2 can show you. This and the pure scaling of the notes will be one of my abiding memories of the amplifier. After my recent streaming experiences I have gone to some lengths to reduce the noise floor of my network and this review has shown me just how rewarding that has been as I have never heard the streamed music in such startling relief and against such silent backdrops. For a great album like Nefertiti with its sparse instrumentation where the spaces between phrases are so vital and that wonderful, ultra-cool and sparing style that Miles always excelled at is a vital component. Very, very few musicians are able play exactly what they feel quite like Miles did. This communication level is crucial and has helped no end in making my time with the Arne so musically meaningful and indeed powerful.
What an amplifier!
What an amplifier and what a system it helped create! It’s easy to just sit and listen to a high-end system for a review and to end up concentrating on its overall resolution and I mean in all its forms. The Engström Arne Mk 2 certainly goes the distance in this respect. Its command of space and time give it the ability to form sonic illusions in front of your ears and make it the ideal companion for those who like to go deep into the music and explore its inner secrets.
Seeking out lots of new music becomes addictive and obviously high-end streaming is the key that unlocks this. Its control of instrumentation be it solo or ensemble and the uncannily natural way it has with the human voice are as notable as the fact that it always has space and headroom to spare. It never sounds hurried or flustered and growing tonally harsh is simply not in its repertoire and this is a large part of the reason why it speaks the language of music so eloquently and with such purpose.
This really is a beautiful sounding amplifier. It’s as simple as that.
Technical specifications
Type: Tube integrated amplifier
Power output: 30w per channel
Inputs: 2× SE line inputs (RCA), 2 x Bal. line inputs (XLR)
Frq. response: 10Hz–40kHz +/-1dB
Tubes: 4× 300B (options available), 4 × D3a
Vol.control: 48-step
Remote control: Yes-volume and mute
Dimensions: 320 × 450 × 480mm
Weight: 38kg
Price: £29,500. Various finish and tube options are available
Last year, I got to review the Gold Note PH-5 phono stage. At that time the matching Power Supply Unit had not been released. A couple of months after that review was published, Gold Note contacted me and asked if I would like to hear the PH-5 with its own dedicated power supply (the PSU-5), as that was now available. Silly question – of course I was interested! A unit was then sent to me by the nice people at Airt Audio, Gold Note’s UK distributor, and – spoiler alert – another period of unbridled vinyl joy began.
Brief tour
In case you missed it the first time around, let me take you on a brief tour of both units. The PH-5 differs from its more expensive sibling in a couple of visible ways. As already mentioned, the rotary dial of the PH-10 has gone, leaving just a colour touchscreen on the front, along with a small LED which indicates whether the unit is in standby mode or fully operational. Above that sits a small embossed gold disc showing the Gold Note loge. On the top right, again in gold, are the manufacturer’s name in upper case and the model name below that in a small size of the same font.
Around the back, the main visible difference is that there is only a single input position, as opposed to the two on the PH-10. The balanced XLR outputs have been retained along with a pair of RCAs. All the sockets are gold, as is the ground pin for the turntable input. In other words, Gold Note has maintained its high class build quality even on this “entry-level” device. There is an IEC power socket and an on/off rocker switch.
The PSU-5 is a perfect visual match for the phono stage, as one would expect, but without the colour screen. On the rear is the multi-pin socket for the supplied umbilical cord, an earthing pin and again an IEC input socket and rocker switch.
Inside the PSU is a two-transformer circuit, with plenty of clean power being made available to the main unit. This configuration helps to reduce noise from the AC. However, the Gold Note designers have not stopped there. A dual-choke inductive filter developed with a dedicated transformer completely shields the PH-5 from unwanted noise. The design goal was to improve dynamics and fine detail compared with running the PH-5 with its own internal power supply.
When the PSU-5 arrived my system had a few changes from the one that had supported my review of the PH-5. I was playing host to a pair of Dynaudio Contour 20i stand-mount loudspeakers (reviewed in the January 2024 edition of hifi+) and a Kleio K135 integrated amplifier. They were connected with Audioquest Robin Hood cables. My Linn Sondek, with hardware upgrades from Tangerine Audio and a Dynavector XX2 moving coil cartridge installed in the Ittok arm was unchanged from the previous review. I plugged the arm leads from the LP12 into the PH-5, along with the grounding cable to its stud, and used a pair of Audioquest Pegasus XLR cables between the PH-5 and the K135.
Listening to the PH-5/PSU-5
I gave the PSU-5 a day or two to settle in, as it was a factory-fresh unit. I cued up another of my firm favourite albums for review purposes and one which featured in the PH-5 review, Gary Karr’s recording of Rodrigo’s En Aranjuez Con Tu Amor on the Firebird/Cisco pressing (CLP7058). Once again I was lost in the recital, the rich tones of Mr Karr’s double bass both sweet and deep. The sound was just a tiny bit harder than I remembered it, but I put this down to the newness of the PSU. For the next two days I played vinyl almost without pause from about 9 in the morning until Mrs K returned from her proper job at about 5. It all sounded fine as I went about my other tasks, as I did not want to rush to judgement while the PSU-5 was still settling in.
On the third day (without wishing to sound unduly biblical) I thought the system should be ready for some more serious listening. Although it was a bit of extra work I played one side of an album without the PSU involved and then plugged it back in and repeated the side. First up was my original copy of Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, which the still present sticker tells me cost $4.88 at the Wherehouse record store on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angles when I was there in the summer of 1977. It is in remarkably good condition considering its age. The bare PH-5 gave a very good account of the music. Every song came across very well. I then plugged in the PSU-5 and repeated the exercise. Oh… my… giddy… aunt! (I suspect my words at the time were slightly more profane). ‘The Chain’ had me up on my feet, in full air bass guitar mode. It went from very good to compelling. Nothing was held back – the band were going for broke. By the time we got to the final track ‘Gold Dust Woman’, Stevie Nicks’ ethereal voice was as delicate as those floaty clothes she used to wear in the band’s heyday.
Returning to the Gary Karr album (which is never a hardship), I played it with the now definitely warmed up PSU. This time that slight hardness which I had detected had vanished completely. The music simply flowed through the maestro’s hand. My earlier reservations were washed away in a tsunami of exquisite music-making.
Still on something of a high from that musical rush, I selected another album from further back in my youth. In the mid to late 1960s my father, who was an army chaplain, was stationed in what was then West Berlin. One of the privileges that his rank afforded was access to the American PX in their sector of that fine city. My parents took me there and let me browse in the admirably extensive record section of this department store for GIs. On one visit I was treated to a Rolling Stones album called Now, which was a US only issue at the time.
The rear of the sleeve states at the bottom that it was electronically reprocessed for stereo from the original monaural recoding. No matter, I cued up the first side and sat down to listen to the Stones tearing into ‘Everybody Needs Somebody To Love’. The same thing happened. The bare PH-5 had my feet tapping and my head nodding but when I added the PSU-5 I was up and – let’s not call what went on dancing – but there was definitely rhythmic body movement and I may even have joined in the chorus. By the time I had cranked up the volume and track three was roaring from the Dynaudios the irony of a man my age sing-shouting ‘You Can’t Catch Me’ was probably beyond parody. No matter. The extra volume and the sense of being at the front of the stage at a Stones 60s gig combined got me lost in the moment. It’s at times like this that I am glad to live in a detached house and to be home alone during daylight hours.
From then on I dispensed with the with/without PSU part of the reviewing process – it is just so clearly better with the PSU-5. Everything I wrote about the PH-5 in my original review held true, but now it was doing it with the more appropriate PSU-5 which costs roughly third of the price of the PSU-10 I used earlier in the year. As before, this system was agnostic when it came to music genres. It brought everything I played through it to life.
Towards the end of the review period, both the Kleios K135 amplifier and the Dynaudio had to be returned whence they came. The replacements, however, were more than adequate and actually belonged to me, so this was never likely to downgrade the sound. Change it, yes but downgrade it, no. The Lyngdorf TDAI3400 took over amplifier duties and the Harbeth Compact7ESRDXs and their stands were set back in their familiar positions. The XLR cables were connected to the upgraded analogue input board installed in the TDAI3400.
In fairness to the Gold Note units I gave the Lyngdorf and the Harbeths a couple of days to warm up and started back on the pile of records still awaiting play. First up on the LP12 was the new half-speed master version of what many regard as the pinnacle of the Who’s recorded output, Who’s Next. Originally released in 1971, this 2023 edition was mastered by long-time Who associate Jon Astley at Close To The Edge, while the half-speed masters were cut by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios. This is an album I have loved – revered even – since its release. I know it well, or at least I thought I did. This was my first play of this 2023 release, and from the first notes from the synthesiser on ‘Baba O’Reilly’, it was as if it had been recorded yesterday and gone from monochrome to vivid colour. By the time ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ faded to silence I sat for an indeterminate period of time, quietly stunned. Eventually I did get up and lift the arm out of the run-out groove, but I decided that nothing could top that experience so called it a day as far as music listening was concerned.
The Final Verdict
I have re-read my conclusion to the original review of the PH-5 and stand by every word I wrote then. The PH-5 is the finest sub £1,000 phono stage to have passed through my system in all the time I have been a reviewer. It is very well built, easy to use, incredibly versatile and sounds magnificent. If you then add the PSU-5 into the mix you have an admirably accomplished sub-£1.500 phono stage which will get as much out of your precious vinyl as the rest of your replay system will allow. If you care enough about vinyl replay to contemplate investing £1.500 in a phono-stage, you really have to include these two elegant boxes in any audition shortlist that you are drawing up. I would describe my own system as a solid mid-range performer, capable of giving me moments of pure pleasure.
A friend of mine in high-end audio retail has recently sold a pair of speakers for three times the market value of my home, and I am happy for the purchaser, for he can surely afford the best of the best. For those of us with more modest sums at our disposal, audio purchases are not usually undertaken lightly, and we want to be as sure as we can be that the components we choose will serve us well for years to come. The Gold Note PH-5 and its dedicated PSU are undoubtedly such components. I gave myself no room for hyperbole when I gave the PH-5 my highest recommendation, so I can only repeat that for the two-box package reviewed here. My warmest congratulations to Gold Note, for producing such sonic excellence in such an affordable guise. It is good to know that the Florence of the 21st century can produce its own masterpieces and need not feel overshadowed by its illustrious past.
Technical specifications
Type: Power supply for Gold Note PH-5 phono stage
Power supply: Three rail, audio grade, with three ultra-low voltage regulators
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